Creating an on-line job function ontology

Abstract

Method and system to create a job function ontology may be utilized to derive, from member profiles maintained in an on-line social networking system, job function entities associated with respective sets of professional attributes. An entry in the job function ontology—a job function entity—may include identification of the associated job function, as well as a set of professional attributes that characterize professional skills of a member of the on-line social network system. A label assigned to a job function entity may be viewed as a standardized job title.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 in an on-line social network system, maintaining member profiles representing respective members of the on-line social network system, each member profile from the member profiles represented by a respective profile web page that displays one or more professional skills of an associated member, the one or more professional skills of the associated member stored in the on-line social network system as the associated member's professional attributes from an entire set of professional attributes maintained by the on-line social network system;   deriving a plurality of job function entities, using one or more processors, a job function entity from the set of job function entities including a set of attributes from the entire set of professional attributes maintained by the on-line social network system;   associating a selected profile from the member profiles with the job function entity, based on professional attributes that are present in the profile, the professional attributes being from the entire set of professional attributes;   accessing a selected job posting from a plurality of job postings maintained in the on-line social network system; and   causing presentation of the selected job posting to a member represented by the selected profile, based on the job function entity associated with the selected profile.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the deriving of the plurality of job function entities comprises:
 determining a plurality of profile clusters, each profile from a cluster from the plurality of profile clusters associated with the same company identification;   for each cluster from the profile clusters, determining a set of title entities, a title entity from the set of title entities including a title string and a set of attributes from the professional attributes, title entities from all of the profile clusters comprising a combined set; and   deriving the plurality of job function entities from the combined set.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 storing the plurality of job function entities in a database.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the deriving of the plurality of job function entities comprises:
 grouping one or more title entities from the combined set into a group of similar title entities, the title entities from the group comprising a certain percentage of overlapping professional attributes; and   creating a job function entity from the plurality of job function entities, the job function entity associated with at least a subset of attributes from professional attributes present in title entities from the group of similar title entities.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the grouping of the one or more title entities from the combined set into the group of similar title entities is based on results of pair-wise comparison of title entities from the combined set. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising organizing the of job function as a hierarchy of job function entities. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the company identification is from a plurality of company identifications, the method comprising selecting company identifications to be included in the plurality of company identifications. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the selecting of company identifications is utilizing company size values associated with the respective company identifications. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the creating a title entity from the set of title entities comprises:
 selecting, from a cluster from the profile clusters, profiles that include a particular title string, the particular title string representing a job position in a company represented by a company identification associated with the cluster;   extracting, form the profiles that include the particular title string, professional attributes; and   associating one or more of the extracted professional attributes with the particular title string.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising updating, periodically, the plurality of job function entities. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented system comprising:
 a profiles module, implemented using one or more processors, to maintain member profiles representing respective members of an on-line social network system, each member profile from the member profiles represented by a respective profile web page that displays one or more professional skills of an associated member, the one or more professional skills of the associated member stored in the on-line social network system as the associated member's professional attributes from an entire set of professional attributes maintained by the on-line social network system;   a job functions module, implemented using one or more processors, to derive a plurality of job function entities, a job function entity from the set of job function entities including a set of attributes from the professional attributes;   a tagging module, implemented using one or more processors, to associate a profile from the member profiles with a job function, based on attributes from the professional attributes that are present in the profile; and   a matching module, implemented using one or more processors, to:
 access a selected job posting from a plurality of job postings maintained in the on-line social network system; and 
 cause presentation of the selected job posting to a member represented by the selected profile, based on the job function entity associated with the selected profile. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , comprising:
 a company cluster module, implemented using one or more processors, to determine a plurality of profile clusters, each profile from a cluster from the plurality of profile clusters associated with a respective company identification;   a title entities module, implemented using one or more processors, to determine a set of title entities for each cluster from the profile clusters, a title entity from the set of title entities including a title string and a set of attributes from the professional attributes, title entities from all of the profile clusters comprising a combined set, the job functions module to derive a plurality of job function entities from the combined set.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , comprising
 a storage module, implemented using one or more processors, to store the plurality of job function entities in a database.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the job functions module is to:
 group one or more title entities from the combined set into a group of similar title entities, the title entities from the group comprising a certain percentage of overlapping professional attributes; and   create a job function entity from the plurality of job function entities, the job function entity associated with at least a subset of attributes from professional attributes present in title entities from the group of similar title entities.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the job functions module is to group the one or more title entities from the combined set into the group of similar title entities, based on results of pair-wise comparison of title entities from the combined set. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the job functions module is to organize the plurality of job function entities as a hierarchy of job function entities. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the company identification is from a plurality of company identifications, the company cluster module to select company identifications to be included in the plurality of company identifications. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , the company cluster module is to select company identifications, utilizing company size values associated with the respective company identifications. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the title entities module is to:
 select, from a cluster from the profile clusters, profiles that include a particular title string, the particular title string representing a job position in a company represented by a company identification associated with the cluster;   extract, form the profiles that include the particular title string, professional attributes; and   associate one or more of the extracted professional attributes with the particular title string.   
     
     
         20 . A machine-readable non-transitory storage medium having instruction data to cause a machine to perform operations comprising:
 maintaining member profiles representing respective members of an on-line social network system each member profile from the member profiles represented by a respective profile web page that displays one or more professional skills of an associated member, the one or more professional skills of the associated member stored in the on-line social network system as the associated member's professional attributes from an entire set of professional attributes maintained by the on-line social network system;   deriving a plurality of job function entities, a job function entity from the set of job function entities including a set of attributes from the entire set of professional attributes maintained by the on-line social network system;   associating a selected profile from the member profiles with the job function entity, based on professional attributes that are present in the profile professional attributes being from the entire set of professional attributes;   accessing a selected job posting from a plurality of job postings maintained in the on-line social network system; and   causing presentation of the selected job posting to a member represented by the selected profile, based on the job function entity associated with the selected profile.